Easy as breathing
by ClockworkAngel19
Summary: Teddy is happy with Victoire, right? Then why does it suddenly bother him that she's become so possessive and demanding? He's known her for years. They've been dating for thirteen months. Why does he suddenly notice all the things that irritate him about her character? Could it have anything to do with a small girl with snow white hair that has the same abilities as he?


The Yule Ball, teachers said, used to be a celebration that happened only once every four years, when the Triwizard Tournament took place. But after the Second Wizarding War and the near destruction of the school in the Final Battle, it was decided by the ministry that the Yule Ball would be celebrated yearly by the seventh year students. With special permission, the seventh year students from the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons schools would apparate in Hogsmead a week before, proceeding to be situated inside the castle until a week after the ball, to also attend the Christmas celebrations.

Teddy Lupin couldn't really see what the big fuss was about. Granted, this year he would be able to participate in the celebrations himself, along with his classmates, but it bothered him that he couldn't bring Victoire with him. They'd been dating for a year; he should've been able to bring his girlfriend with him.

He could tell it bothered her too. Of course there was no question if he would go or not; nobody would miss a chance at attending the Yule Ball. It was one big party; legendary from the tales told by seventh year students in the past years. When she'd tried offering that he didn't go without him, he had stared at her hard and outright said that if it was her in his shoes, he'd want her to go as a good boyfriend ought to. It silenced her immediately, but then again he could see how her eyes tightened and how she flicked her silvery blond hair over her shoulder indignantly.

Besides, Ginny and Harry had already purchased dressing robes for him; fancy ones, nonetheless and from the looks of them expensive. The short note that was attached explained that Flair had asked her parents to select one from their trip to Paris and send it to them. They were rather simple, in zodiac blue, his favorite color, but the fabric was soft and rich. Although he wasn't the kind of man to think of such trivial things like clothing, he rather liked it and he found himself looking forward to wearing them.

Even Victoire had unwillingly admitted he'd look dashing in them.

"If only you can be persuaded to have your hair in a normal color for once" she'd jabbed at him when she saw him in his robes.

True, he fancied having blue hair. It was one of the few things he had to remember his parents by; his mother was one of the very few, very rare Metamorphmagi. He prided himself in having inherited her abilities, despite the fact that his often brightly colored hair irritated his girlfriend.

A week before the ball, on the last day of classes, he gathered with the entire seventh year class at the gates of the school to welcome the parties of the seventh years from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. The silvery blue robes of the ladies and the blood red cloaks of the gentlemen contrasted heavily with the black robes the Hogwarts students wore. He stood at the back, with his hands shoved in his pockets, slightly irritated he'd had to wear his formal school attire instead of his casual clothes.

His irritation was short-lived, however, as a collective wave of whispering erupted in the crowd. He craned his neck, but he only caught a glimpse of white as the Beauxbatons ladies strode confidently in front of them, led by their headmistress to curtsy gracefully in front of Professor McGonagall. A group of Slytherin boys in front of him were talking animatedly about whatever it was that had caught everyone's attention instantly. Determinately, he pushed his way forward until he could finally see.

He blinked. And blinked. And blinked again, thinking that his eyes were somehow deceiving him. But no; there she stood. Her hair was caught in a bun with a small, thin paintbrush stuck in them to keep them in place. Where the other girls' uniforms clung tightly against their lean figures, hers fell more elegantly over well-rounded curves. Her skin was pale, coming in full harmony with the pure, undiluted white of her hair and in full contrast with the pitch black of her eyes. Her lashes were pitch black and elongated, either magically or with muggle cosmetics-he didn't know. But it made her eyes look even bigger and more mysterious and the more he stared in them, the more he felt like he was drowning in their depths.

Her lips curved in a small smile. For a split second-just a second-he believed that it was aimed at him. It was like a crackle of light in the dim afternoon light. It made the apples of her cheeks look rounder; adorably so. And her lips; perfectly curvy and soft-looking.

And then her eyes changed color, just before his eyes, turning a very beautiful shade of ice blue; the same he was currently sporting. Startled, he gasped along with the rest of the students as her smile widened mischievously.

"Ah, donc je ne me trompais pas! You are like moi, n'est pas ?" she inquired excitedly, her voice like crystal chimes in the wind.

"Indeed. I'm sorry, I've never had the chance of encountering another" he inclined his head politely.

"I see you have all realized that this year in Hogwarts, for a short period at least, we'll have not one, but two Metamorphmagi" Headmistress McGonagall said in a curt voice that indicated that she would not tolerate these two students were addressed any differently than any other seventh year; neither negatively nor positively.

Teddy was thankful for her curtness. The wizarding population had always had a difficult time accepting what was different; Metamorphmagi were no exception and the fact that they were rare mattered very little. When he first attended Hogwarts he was ostracized in the beginning for his abilities, until his teachers interfered and the other students began approaching him timidly.

The headmistress proceeded to introduce the party from Durmstrang. The young men all had a tall and bulky build, resembling men more than any other male student at Hogwarts. Teddy noticed that most of their eyes scanned the girls assembled, in the way a wolf would scout a herd of sheep.

Honestly, did they not have women where they came from?

The assembly broke apart and he had half a mind to leave, when the white haired girl ducked next to him and linked her arm through his.

"We must talk, _cher_!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I have not been in Britain before. And, surtout, I've never spoken to another before! Tell me all about you. Je veux tout savoir"

He smiled despite of himself. Although at the beginning he thought she was tall, in reality she barely reached his shoulder. Unlike Victoire who was exactly at his eyelevel. She chirped and talked as if they were old friends, finally reunited.

"Leave it to you to get the attention of the most interesting girl, again, Ted!" Anthony and a few other boys he shared a room with erupted into laughter a little bit ahead of them.

"Leave some for us, mate" Teddy's best friend Dorian Longbottom appeared on his other side. "First Victoire and now… I'm sorry, we never got your name, mademoiselle?"

"Oh la la! How thoughtless of moi!" she exclaimed, her face twisting into an adorable grimace. "Je m'appelles Christine Gerard. And yourselves?"

"Dorian, Dorian Longbottom" the round-headed boy jumped at his opportunity. "My father is the Herbology teacher; you'll get to meet him soon. I'm in Hufflepuff along with Teddy here"

"Oh, Teddy?" she turned her ice blue eyes up at him. "Is that votre nom?"

"Indeed. Edward 'Teddy' Lupin" he nodded at her. "C'est un plaisir de vous recontrer, Christine"

"Oh, vous parlez francais? C'est magnifique!" she beamed again and for a second he found himself blinded by the sheer force of that smile.

"Only what his girlfriend has taught him, I assure you" Dorian laughed again, walking ahead to catch up with the rest of the boys from their dorm.

The mention of his girlfriend brought him back to the present. He was walking towards Hogwarts, in the midst of a rather large crowd of students with a beautiful little French belle hanging from his arm, while he was romantically involved with another French belle. A French belle that had a jealous streak, and a mean one at that. He cringed inwardly at the thought that he might have to face her wrath later on, but Christine started speaking again and distracted him.

"Oh, bien sur, you would have a girlfriend" she teased good-heartedly. "And she is une francaise, n'est pas? Tell me, how beautiful is she?"

"Well, she's pretty, that's for sure. Blonde with blue eyes, a spitting image of her mother. She's part Veela, but only a small part. I think her wand has a Veela hair core, which was gifted to her by her great-grandmother" he said with a shrug. "And I find it hard to believe that a girl so beautiful as you doesn't have someone special"

To his utter awe, she blushed a pretty shade of pink; she reminded him of a pale pink rose blooming amongst the snow.

"Oh, mon dieu, _non_. I'm afraid les garcons francais don't particularly, how do you say, _fancy_ strange girls who like changing the color of their hair and eyes every other day" she laughed again, tossing her head back and exposing her neck. "Certainment I would love to find someone at some point, mais, for now, I am enjoying ma dernierre annee a l'ecole"

"I'm sure it's a relief to your father" he chuckled lightly.

"Oh, bien sur! Mon papa loves his little girl too much to bear the thought of her having un petit ami" she smiled again and, to his outmost disappointment, released his arm. "I shall see you at dinner, cher. I must go see where I'll be sleeping tonight. Au revoir, Teddy"

She skipped forward happily, catching up to a group of other girls that began chatting to her animatedly. He found himself walking up to his dorm mates as well, catching up to their conversation easily, but keeping his eyes on the girls. He couldn't help but notice the way she walked; like she was constantly dancing. Her hips swayed gently from side to side. She walked very femininely. Her arms were linked through the other two girls' in a familiar matter, like she had held onto his.

"Teddy!" he heard someone call for him but paid them no mind.

"Oi, Ted, your girlfriend is coming your way and she doesn't look very pleased" Dorian noted quietly next to him. "I wouldn't ignore her if I were you; we all know how Vic gets"

"Don't let her catch you calling her that, mate. She hates it" Teddy sighed and stopped to face Victoire.

"I have been calling your name for the past few minutes, did you not hear me?" Victoire demanded with a huff as she caught up to him. "Honestly, this was the longest day. Professor Beans was a bore, I swear to God, History of Magic is torture at the end of the day"

He couldn't help but compare the way Victoire held onto his arm with the way Christine had. Whereas the young Metamorphmagi was merely touching him for the sake of contact, Victoire had sunk her long manicured nails into his forearm in such a possessive gesture that, not for the first time, he found himself internally protesting against it.

"There were a lot of other subjects you could've chosen for your N.E.W.T.s next year instead of that, Victoire, and you know it. There's nothing you can do about it now" he sighed. "Maybe you should go freshen up before dinner"

"Are you saying I'm ugly right now?" she picked at him with a frown.

"I don't think you could ever look ugly. I'm just suggesting that you go have a moment to relax before dinner. Don't forget that Hogwarts has guests" he reminded her gently.

"I'm fine" she said, finally letting go of him.

He walked her to the Gryffindor table and then turned to go to his table when he was approached for the second time by Christine, this time followed by two other pretty Beauxbatons girls.

"Oh, Teddy, cher, here you are! Dorian said that you were with your petite amie and we thought we'd come introduce ourselves" her blue eyes drifted behind him to Victoire.

He turned too and was surprised to see Victoire smiling icily at the other girl. He recognized the look on her face as she sized up Christine; her jealous streak had taken over. He could almost see the green tint behind her sky blue eyes.

"Teddy, _darling_" she put her arm through his possessively again. "Who's this?"

"Oh, how silly of me! Je suis Christine Gerard et ce sont mes copines, Aline Dumont et Constance Herve. Nous assistons a Beauxbatons. Teddy m'a dit que tu es francaise, non ?" the shorter girl was smiling in a friendly matter at his girlfriend, even though she didn't deserve it.

"Oui" Victoire's answer was curt and in complete contrast to the other girl's cheerfulness. "How do you know my boyfriend?"

"Oh, no, we do not know him personally" Aline cut in with a slightly heavier accent. "Mais, how do you say, he stood out today at the assemblage. Ted et Christine, they share a unique ability"

"Really" Victoire's eyes had narrowed on Christine. "You can change your hair in crazy colors as well?"

She spoke so degrading of his abilities at the moment, and in the presence of three strangers no less, one of which had the same abilities, that he was mortified on her behalf. To her honor, Christine chose not to respond to her accordingly and merely laughed.

"C'est vrai!"she tossed her head so that her snow white hair rustled around her shoulders. "It is something so beautiful to be able to not be the same as others, n'est pas?"

"Je suis d'accord, Christine" Constance chirped in, her hazel eyes filled with an unspoken threat towards Victoire. "If only I could have different hair every day-mais je suis terrestre and I have to wait for my rendez-vous with my visagiste at least once a month"

"C'est un plaisir de vous recontrer, Victoire" Aline offered with a tight smile. "Mais, we are expected to dine avec nos camarades de classe"

"We'll see you later, won't we?" Teddy smiled at the three girls.

"Bien sur, cher" Christine returned his smile brightly. "Au revoir, Victoire. Au revoir, Teddy"

"Bon nuit a vous trois" Victoire returned stiffly.

She at least had the decency to wait until the three had returned to the Hufflepuff table before she started on Teddy.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded, tugging at his arm harsher than usual.

"That was me making new friends, Victoire. Why are you so irate all of a sudden?" he sighed exasperated.

"You were flirting with her, weren't you?" she said with a softer voice that he expected. "Are you bored of me all of a sudden, is that it?"

"No one said such a thing. Will you relax?" he drew her in and she grasped at the chance to have his arms wrapped around her tightly. "You know exactly how I feel for you"

She didn't notice it was the first time he hadn't told her he loved her. And he didn't notice the poisonous glare she had thrown at the white haired girl sitting at the Hufflepuff table.


End file.
